Sep 27, 2016 -- The CADathlon is a challenging, all-day, programming competition focusing on practical problems at the forefront of Computer-Aided Design, and Electronic Design Automation in particular. The contest emphasizes the knowledge of algorithmic techniques for CAD applications, problem-solving and programming skills, as well as teamwork.

In its fifteenth year as the "Olympic games of EDA," the contest brings together the best and the brightest of the next generation of CAD professionals. It gives academia and the industry a unique perspective on challenging problems and rising stars, and it also helps attract top graduate students to the EDA field.

The contest is open to two-person teams of graduate students specializing in CAD and currently full-time enrolled in a Ph.D. granting institution in any country. Students are selected based on their academic backgrounds and their relevant EDA programming experiences. Travel grants are provided to qualifying students.The CADathlon competition consists of six problems in the following areas:

(1) Circuit analysis

(2) Physical design

(3) Logic and behavioral synthesis

(4) System design and analysis

(5) Functional verification

(6) Future technologies (Bio-EDA, Security, etc.)

More specific information about the problems and relevant research papers will be released on the Internet one week prior to the competition. The writers and judges that construct and review the problems are experts in EDA from both academia and industry. At the contest, students will be given the problem statements and example test data, but they will not have the judges' test data. Solutions will be judged on correctness and efficiency. Where appropriate, partial credit might be given. The team that earns the highest score is declared the winner. In addition to handsome trophies, the first and second place teams will receive cash award.

Contest winners will be announced at the ICCAD Opening Session on Monday morning and celebrated at the ACM/SIGDA Dinner and Member Meeting.

The CADathlon competition is sponsored by ACM/SIGDA and several Computer and EDA companies. For detailed contest information and sample problems from last year's competition, please visit the
ACM/ SIGDA.